Stand Up For Justice
by Mechanical Marshal
Summary: A landmark achievement in Hero history, UA High School has opened its doors to Stand users. In collaboration with the Speedwagon Foundation, UA hires a pair of new teachers who are well acquainted with Stands, and hand-picks four Stand using students from around the globe to apply for entry. To his astonishment, Josuke Higashikata finds that he is one of them.
1. Prologue

=====Late 1938=====

"Apologize to Speedwagon... in Hell!"

With a thundering _boom,_ Joseph's Hamon punch crashes into Straizo's skull, sending the traitorous monk spiraling off the edge of the bridge. With the last of his strength, Straizo desperately grasps at a steel girder, his fingers digging into the metal as he clings for dear life in a final attempt to save himself. However, his wounds were too great, and the vampire found himself falling once more as he lost his grip...

...only to be caught again by Joseph himself.

"Why would you save me from falling?" Straizo asks curtly, defeat ringing clear in is voice. "I might still have enough power to blow your arm off, after all."

It was a hollow threat, and Joseph knew it well. "Shut up and do it then!" he roars in response. "I'll just punch you with the other!"

Taking a moment to collect himself, Joseph continues. "I want answers, Straizo. Why did you throw Uncle Speedwagon's body in the river? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Ah, Joseph," Straizo begins in response, sounding oddly nostalgic. "You really have inherited Jonathan's spirit, it seems. You might be more hasty and quick to anger, but you're a meddler like no other! Very well, I will reveal to you the events you've entangled yourself in."

Joseph takes a contemplative look. "Events? What do you..."

"They will soon begin to unfold!" Straizo continues, interrupting him. "It all begins with the Man in the Pillar! He is the one who will make everything change!"

"You're not making any sense, you nut job!" Joseph replies in a rage. "Explain it in a way that makes sense!"

Straizo merely continues, as if not even registering Joseph's outburst. "It was because of him," he explains, "that I left their bodies in the river. The men I killed... he began to drink in their blood, not unlike a plant drawing nutrients from the soil. I found the very sight of it disturbing, so I took their bodies to the river. But, I was too late! I fear its awakening is close at hand, despite my efforts. He will awaken, from his two-millennia sleep!"

Joseph's face takes on a look of confusion and horror as Straizo continues. "Joseph," he says, "you will soon encounter him, and he will be the one to change your views on the very nature of mankind. The very nature of our evolution! To understand this man, will be to understand the true desires of God himself!"

Before Joseph can ask what Straizo means, he catches a flash of movement from the corner of his vision. Straizo's right arm lashes upwards, striking the vampire's own left arm that Joseph had been clutching. With a gasp, Joseph reels back, astonished at the lack of weight he is holding. Straizo's disembodied left arm is still clutched in his right hand as the vampire freefalls towards the water.

"Straizo!" the young Hamon user yells, leaning over the side once more. "What do you think you're doing, you bastard?!"

"I'm not ready to enter Hell just yet, Joseph!" is Straizo's ecstatic reply. "I've only just regained my youth, I haven't yet had a chance to properly enjoy it! We will meet again, but for now, farewell Jojo!"

The cackling vampire hits the water with a loud splash, leaving Joseph to stare dumbfounded at the open air before him. Straizo's left arm was the only proof he had of the villain's defeat.

"Jojo?" Smokey asks, cautiously approaching the scene. "Is... did you win? Is everything alright?"

Joseph remains still for a moment, staring at the arm of his foe still clutched in his grasp. Then, all of a sudden, he lets out a bellowing wail of defeat. He had won the fight, but Straizo yet lived. Speedwagon wouldn't be avenged.

=====May, 1998=====

"Whew!" Joseph exclaims, leaning against a pillar outside of the auditorium. "I can't believe that was only thirty minutes. It felt like I was in there for ages! I never want to be a guest speaker again for as long as I live."

"Oh come now Jojo, I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Caesar admonishes him, his arms crossed. "You didn't even stumble over your words more than once or twice. Considering how much you hate speaking Japanese, I'd call that an accomplishment."

"Oh my God, it was terrible!" Joseph groans, sliding down the pillar until he's practically sitting down against it. "I've never had to spend so much time speaking nothing but Japanese. It's such a weird language! And I felt like I was boring them to tears; they didn't react at all to anything I said! They just all sat there, quietly nodding and taking notes. It was agony."

"I suppose there's not much else you could expect from an auditorium full of business students," Caesar offers. "I'm sure they're all very dedicated to getting their degrees."

"At least you came to keep me company," Joseph says. "Thanks for that, by the way. I don't think I'd have been able to stand it being out here alone with nobody to talk to. I thought this would be a good way to get my mind off of... you know... but, all I've done is submit myself to cruel and unusual punishment. Good grief."

Caesar nods. "Of course, Jojo! I'm never too busy to help you out, after all. Goodness knows you need all the help I can offer."

The blond man adjusts his tie a bit, looking around in a cagey manner. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish to return to New York soon, however. I'm getting some reports from my pupils about signs of possible vampire activity in the city. It would be beneficial for the both of us to return as soon as we can."

Joseph's eyes widen at the news, as he was hearing it for the first time. "Vampires... not many of those miserable bastards running around any more, these days. There can't be more than a handful of Stone Masks left floating around, and there are more Hamon practitioners around the globe than ever. You don't think it's..."

"Straizo?" Caesar finishes, knowing exactly what his friend is thinking. "No way of knowing for sure. The signs are still too few to even be sure we're on the trail of a vampire at all. I'd like to think that _cagna_ took a wrong step at some point and got himself killed, but there's no way of knowing unless he shows up again..."

Caesar's features soften. "But enough about that," he says, changing the subject. "How are you holding up?" he asks. "It's only been a month since Suzi passed. Are you... managing okay?"

"As well as I can," Joseph mumbles, looking away. "I just still can't believe it. I always thought I'd have Suzi forever. I guess it was silly of me. Our Hamon keeps us young longer. To not have seen this coming was just stupid."

Caesar nodded sadly. "It's... why I never married, after all. I couldn't bear the thought that I'd take a wife, just for her to die when my own life is only half over. You know I'm always here, if you need me."

"Of course, Caesar," Joseph says, still not meeting his eyes. "And I'm really thankful that you-"

"Excuse me?" a feminine voice says in Japanese, interrupting him. Joseph looks up for a moment, before scrambling to a standing position at the sight of a young woman clutching a binder. She looked to be in her early twenties, and was giving Joseph an odd look.

"You are Joseph Joestar, correct?" she asked. "I wanted to ask you some questions about the guest lecture you just gave, if you have the time. I was thinking of incorporating some of your points on the US real estate market into my thesis, and wanted to get some further information from you."

"Oh! Uh..." Joseph begins, looking to Caesar for guidance. His old friend chuckles and shakes his head, before taking over for him.

"Of course, _signorina_ ," he says. "Joseph isn't in a hurry at all. He'd be glad to speak with you."

"Uh..." Joseph repeats, not sure what's happening. "But you just..."

He catches himself, clamping his mouth shut before he says anything stupid. He couldn't exactly remind Caesar about the impending vampire problem back home with a young lady standing there. Besides, if Caesar thought he had time to entertain the student, then it probably wasn't a big deal.

He sighs, scratching at his brown beard a bit. "Yeah, sure. I can... discuss things with you, miss..."

"Higashikata," the student replies. "And thank you. I think this will help me quite a bit."

=====February, 2014====

"...with all factors accounted for, we've narrowed down the list of potential applicants to four young Stand users."

Jotaro sat with his chin propped up on his fist, listening with only mild interest as the rep from the Speedwagon Foundation (whose name just kept on escaping him, no matter how many times Caesar had reminded him) continued his presentation to the UA staff. His eyes kept drifting around the table, finding more interest in observing the various Pro Heroes that made up UA's faculty than in actually listening to what the Foundation rep was saying. He'd already heard the whole spiel, and knew who the Foundation's four nominees were ahead of time, so his time was much better spent examining the people he'd soon be working with anyways.

As he did a mental lap of the table for the umpteenth time, his eyes spent just a moment looking over the familiar face of his grandfather's lifelong friend Caesar. It felt odd, being here with his grand dad's friend without the old man himself being around, but Joseph didn't really have a place at this meeting. It wasn't a bad thing; Jotaro had known Caesar for over a decade now. They'd fought side by side back then, during that awful "trip" to Egypt, and saved each other's lives more than once. It was just different.

The next face he spent more time examining: Nezu, the school's principal. Looking at him sent subtle pains through Jotaro's chest. The intelligent animal reminded him of Iggy, and thinking of Iggy made him think of Avdol, and Kakyoin, and...

He moved on to the next face before his thoughts could continue, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of All Might. The man looked ridiculous, wearing a suit far too small for his massive frame, and constantly fidgeting to keep from falling out of the seat that was also too tiny for him. His beady blue eyes didn't notice Jotaro at all, rather the towering man listened to the Speedwagon Foundation rep with rapt attention. If nothing else, Jotaro figured that All Might was very enthusiastic about teaching the new students, even the four young Stand users who would be applying for enrollment. Jotaro had admittedly been worried about that: how all these Pro Heroes with their Quirks would react to Stand users coming into their school for the first time. Jotaro didn't care much for All Might, but at the very least he seemed open-minded.

The next face, on the other hand, was a closed book to him. Shota Aizawa was the perfect facade of sheer boredom. Jotaro couldn't comprehend what, if anything, was going through Eraserhead's mind, though he got the impression of someone who was highly analytical. At least, if what little reputation Eraserhead had was anything to go by. Jotaro had requested information on his soon-to-be coworkers from the Foundation, and while he'd gotten a lot on most of them (barring All Might, whose information even the Speedwagon Foundation had trouble tracking down), there was next to nothing on Eraserhead. Jotaro was suspicious of the lack of information on All Might, but when it came to Eraserhead it just seemed as though there wasn't much of note. He was a skilled hero with a good grasp of tactics and a powerful Quirk, but it looked like that was really all there was to know.

The others at the table Jotaro was less interested in. His eyes quickly passed over Vlad King, Cementoss, Midnight, and Present Mic, and then the only one left was the rep. There were other teachers who'd been left out of the meeting, so it seemed these were the "core staff" of the school and thus were the ones deemed important enough to be present. Jotaro had no idea why any of the teachers other than the homeroom teachers for the Hero course and All Might needed to be present at all, but he said nothing on the matter.

Just as Jotaro's attention returns to the rep, the Foundation member retrieves four folders from his briefcase and lays them out on the table for the others to examine.

"These are the files for our four selected candidates," the rep says. "Chosen from all known Stand users of the appropriate age group from around the world."

He points to each one as he speaks their names and homelands out loud.

"Olivia Bianca, from Mexico," he says, pointing to the first folder. Paper clipped to the front is a picture of a young, tan-skinned woman with a bored stare.

"Martin Daily, from the United States," he gestures to the next, emblazoned with an image of a caucasian boy with blond hair and blue eyes, and a somewhat manic expression.

"Frieda Bachmann, from Germany," is the third, featuring a picture of an auburn haired girl with freckles.

"And Josuke Higashikata, from Japan," the rep finishes, showing a folder whose picture displays a face Jotaro knows well.

"You may examine the files at your leisure," the rep explains. "But these are the four young Stand users we at the Speedwagon Foundation have decided would be the best fit for your school. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

Jotaro sees Present Mic snatch up the folder for the blond haired boy, flipping it open and examining its contents while Midnight peers at it over his shoulder. Cementoss picks up the German girl's file, looking at it with Vlad King, and Eraserhead sluggishly takes Bianca's file. After a moment, All Might picks up Josuke's file.

"The Higashikata boy," All Might begins, looking at the information. "He is Joseph Joestar's son, correct?"

The rep nods. "That's correct, All Might sir. It should be there with the rest of his information."

"I heard about the events that took place in Morioh," Nezu pipes up, glancing at the folder in All Might's oversized hands. "Terrible business, what with that serial killer and all."

"What about it?" Jotaro asks flatly, eyeing the rodent from the corner of his vision.

Nezu shrugs. "Oh, I was just commenting. You ended up being the one to take care of that, didn't you Kujo?"

Jotaro's gaze narrowed. "I finished him off. Josuke and his friends did the hard work."

"Hmm," Nezu hummed. "Well that does show positively for him. I do hope some of his friends try to apply as well, if that's the case. We're opening up applications for any Stand users after all. We just want to make sure we get off to a good start with these four in particular."

Jotaro was about to reply, but a sudden interjection from All Might cut him off.

"So you let the boy and his friends handle it, then? Until the end, when it became apparent that you had to step in."

Jotaro scowled. "I arrived on the scene as quickly as I could. There were plenty of other Pros on the scene already, and I stepped in as soon as I got there."

It was All Might's turn to narrow his own eyes. "Really? I find that hard to believe. I've read your file, Jotaro Kujo. I'd think someone with a Stand that could stop-"

"H-h-hey! This kid's pretty cool!" Present Mic interjected, shifting the discussion away from its collision course. "A motorcycle Stand, whew! How interesting! I'm excited to see what he can do!"

The room was silent for a moment as Jotaro and All Might stared at one another, but a cough from Nezu kept it from dragging on.

"Alright," the rodent said, "I think we're in agreement that these four will make a good first batch of Stand users for our school. This a landmark event, the first inclusion of Stand users among UA's ranks. I'm excited to see how they perform in the Entrance Exam."

He turned to Caesar, who Jotaro noted had been awfully quiet this entire time. The Hamon master's eyes turned to meet Nezu's as the president gave him a thoughtful look.

"Trevor is going to be applying as well, isn't he Zeppeli?" Nezu asked, getting a nod from Caesar in response.

"That's right, _signore_. It's part of why I accepted the job actually, so that he could apply. He couldn't really attend UA from New York, after all," Caesar replied, giving a wry grin. "His mother and I, we're very excited for him. We've redoubled his training in preparation for the event."

Nezu nods. "Very good. Yes, very good indeed. His application is exciting as well, for its own reasons. He's also the first UA student of his kind, after all. I'll be keeping an eye on him too."

The small animal stands, and despite his short stature the rest of the table turns their eyes to him at the motion.

"With that," he begins, "I do believe everything has been settled. In addition to UA's open invitation to all Stand users, these four from around the world will be definite applicants, to ensure that the school has a good 'first batch' of Stand users to work with. With all of us seemingly in agreement, this meeting is finished."

Jotaro rolls his head a bit, his neck giving a few audible _pops_ as he stands and tries to relieve some of his stiffness. A low ringing sound catches his attention, and from the corner of his eye he sees Caesar place a subtly crackling hand on his shoulder. The subtle stiffness and soreness from sitting for so long washes away, and Jotaro gives a sharp nod of thanks to Caesar. The Hamon master gives a little smirk in reply.

"Don't forget you two!" Nezu exclaims, facing the two of them. "You've got a tour of the campus to take tomorrow! I'd like you both to be familiar with the facilities before you begin teaching here in April."

"Of course," Caesar replies. "We'll be here early, just in case. I'll stop by Jotaro's apartment to make sure he doesn't sleep in."

He casts a cheeky look in Jotaro's direction, and Jotaro's only response is to roll his eyes. Eventually though he nods as well, in confirmation.

"Yeah, we'll be here," is his curt reply.

"Good!" Nezu says gleefully. "See you tomorrow, gentlemen!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Just want to clear some things up before we get into the meat of this story. This is, of course, an AU in which Stands and Quirks both exist. Stands, just like in JJBA canon, are VERY rare. Here in this AU, they're kinda sorta common knowledge, because Quirk users can see and fight Stands just like Stand users can, so as the number of Quirk users skyrocketed it became harder and harder to hide Stands. They're still not very well known, and most people will just think a Stand is a really odd type of Quirk. Quirkless people without a Stand of their own still cannot see Stands, but on the other hand Quirkless people are the only ones who can have Stands at all.

This prologue shows some other key differences between JJBA canon and this story. Caesar is still alive, for one, because he was stronger when he fought Wamuu in this universe than when he did so in canon (for reasons I'm not getting into at the moment but I'm sure you can guess anyways). Not strong enough to win, but strong enough to not die. We might flash back to that fight at some point, but I've no plans to do so right now.

Straizo escaped from Joseph, which isn't a big deal right now but will be later. Straizo's survival did have the notable impact of forcing Joseph to keep up his Hamon training, since he's worried about Straizo returning to wreak havoc on him and his loved ones. Caesar being around to pester him also contributed to Joseph's continued training. At this point in the story, it's 2014 and Joseph and Caesar are over 90 years old, but they're both physically in their late 40s. Joseph's physical age isn't even to the point he was at in canon Part 3 yet.

Speaking of Part 3, while Parts 1 and 2 happened at the same time as canon, parts 3 and 4 were pushed back 14-15 years. Part 3 took place around 2002, and Part 4 took place in 2013 mostly. In addition, Josuke and his friends were in their last year of middle school during Part 4, as opposed to their first year of high school. This is because, of course, Josuke is taking his first year of high school at UA. The story takes place in 2014 because that's when the manga was first published. In canon it probably takes place much later but it's what I'm working with.

And that's about it, for now at least. There are PLENTY of other changes that I don't feel like bringing up yet, some of which were even mentioned in this prologue. I just feel like this is necessary background information to understand this AU. Future Author's Notes hopefully won't be this long. Thanks for reading, everyone.


	2. Chapter 1: Proving Your Worth

**Author's Note:** Jeez, over 100 unique viewers in less than 24 hours? Here, have another for your trouble. It was already half done when I uploaded the prologue anyways, and I'm in the mood for writing right now. I finished this about 20 minutes ago and only proofread it once, so please don't flog me if you find errors. More Author's Notes at the end.

* * *

=====Josuke=====

Standing outside the gates to UA High School, Josuke Higashikata gulps in nervous tension.

It isn't like him to be so high-strung, but this is a big day for him. He'd known for a few months now that he'd be applying for UA. When Jotaro had told him the Speedwagon Foundation wanted him to apply, he'd been floored. After thinking it over however, his only choice had been to agree.

He hadn't been one of those kids who'd grown up wanting to be a hero. Morioh was a quiet town, with a drastically below-average concentration of people with Quirks, and he'd been content to just spend his whole life there. And yet, after fighting all of those villainous Stand users... after fighting _Kira_...

Josuke cracked his knuckles as he thought about that man, his fists aching to hit something as anger and frustration bubbled up within him. There were other people like that - like Yoshikage Kira - and if the Speedwagon Foundation thought he had what it took to be a hero and fight those kinds of people on a regular basis, he definitely wanted to try.

For better or worse, Kira and the other Stand users he'd fought had changed him. He hadn't wanted to be a hero before, but with what he'd seen and done last year it felt like the best possible decision.

He is shaken from his thoughts by a familiar voice calling his name, and he turns around to spot two faces he'd been expecting, as well as one he hadn't.

"Hey Koichi, Okuyasu!" he calls out, waving at his approaching friends. "I was waiting for the two of you. And... good to see you too, Yukako?"

The last part comes out more like a question, and the young woman following behind his two friends gives him a sheepish look.

"Well," she begins, looking away from him and placing a hand on her cheek to hide her reddening face, "I know what you're thinking. I just couldn't imagine being away from my Koichi for so long, so I'm applying to UA as well."

Josuke just rolls his eyes, and Okuyasu audibly scoffs.

" _Your_ Koichi, eh?" the latter remarks, causing Koichi and Yukako to both gasp in embarrassment as Okuyasu continues. "That's a pretty weak reason to apply for the Hero course, if ya ask me."

"Well what about you then?!" Yukako fires back, still red in the face as she stomps her foot and scowls. "You're only here because you're following Josuke, aren't you?"

"Hey, I'm just here to look after him," Okuyasu replies, flashing a grin. "Who knows what kind of trouble this guy's gonna get himself into without me watching him, eh?"

Josuke blanches as Okuyasu wraps an arm around his shoulders and jostles him playfully. Somehow, he expects _he_ will be the one getting _Okuyasu_ out of trouble, not the other way around.

"Eh heh... anyways," Josuke says, hoping to get a move on. "Let's continue on inside. The testing hall is a ways in, I think, and we don't want to be-"

" _Move,_ extras," an unfamiliar voice barks, and Josuke stumbles as he and Okuyasu are shoved to the side. Josuke catches himself, but Okuyasu unceremoniously face plants from the shove as the culprit, a shorter boy with spiky blond hair, walks past without another word.

"Hey!" Okuyasu yells in a rage, pushing himself up with a look of fury. "What the hell was that, you slimy piece of-"

"Okuyasu!" Koichi blurts out, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder to both help him up and stop him from charging forwards. "You can't get into a fight right now! They won't let you enter if you cause trouble!"

The taller boy grunts, breathing out sharply as he tries to reign in his frustration. Josuke can't blame him, scowling at the stranger's back himself but making no move to stop him. On any other day he'd have Crazy Diamond teach the punk a lesson, but this was too important. He couldn't cause a scene now.

The stranger turns a corner, disappearing from view as Koichi helps Okuyasu up. Josuke sighs.

"Alright guys," he says. " _Now_ let's go. If nothing else, it looks like that guy knows where we're supposed to go."

Okuyasu offers another grunt of annoyance, and surprisingly Yukako looks as though she has enough pent up frustration from the display to strangle someone, but nobody makes any complaints as the four of them head into the campus.

=====Josuke=====

As the group finally approaches the testing hall, they come up to a set of numbered doors. Without exchanging words, each of them pulls out a sheet of paper with their testing information on it.

"I think they put us all in different testing groups," Koichi mentions, "since we were in the same middle school."

"To avoid collusion, I guess," Josuke adds, looking at his sheet. He was in group 2, and a glance at Okuyasu's sheet indicated he was in group 1. He imagines Koichi and Yukako are in different groups as well.

"Damn," Okuyasu mutters. "Guess we're splitting up then."

He marches up to the door marked "1", and looks back at the others.

"See you all after, I guess," he says, giving a big thumbs up. "Don't any of you flunk out!"

As Okuyasu opens the door, a cacophony of noise can be heard for a moment. Silence returns as he steps inside and it shuts behind him. The remaining trio all look to one another.

"Honestly," Yukako says in a huff, "I feel like the one most likely to fail is _him_."

Koichi tries to hide a snort of amusement, while Josuke just shrugs and puts his hands behind his head. "Eh, I don't know. Okuyasu's not very bright, but he was pretty serious about this when I told him I'd be going. I don't think I've ever seen him study for school before, but he hit the books pretty hard this past month. Not to mention The Hand is pretty tough, so he shouldn't have a problem in the Practical."

He reaches up for a stretch, then looks back down to grin at Koichi. "I'll go ahead in. Good luck on your own exams, lovebirds."

Koichi blanches at the moniker, and Yukako giggles as he stammers out a response. "O-o-of course! You... you too Josuke!"

With that, Josuke jogs up to door "2", and heads inside himself.

=====Josuke=====

Glancing at his sheet, it takes Josuke only a moment to find his seat number. He sidesteps down the row, muttering quick apologies to the people already sitting as he bumps into their knees on the way to his own seat. Eventually, he gets to his spot and sits down. The desk in front of him already has a pair of sharpened pencils and a test packet with a seal on it. The words "Do Not Open Until Instructed" are printed in white on the tape seal.

With nothing to really do until the test begins, Josuke sits quietly and waits. He props his chin up on his hand and fiddles with one of the pencils. Idly he considers sending out Crazy Diamond to look around, but reminds himself that all of these people have Quirks. There hadn't been many people with Quirks in Morioh, but he remembered what Jotaro had told him about Quirk users being able to see and fight Stands. Bringing out Crazy Diamond now would just get him in trouble.

A couple of minutes pass, and someone takes the seat next to him. Josuke looks over as the young man takes his seat, noticing something hanging from his belt that he can't quite see before the boy sits down. His new neighbor glances at him, gray eyes narrowing a bit as he seems to examine Josuke for a moment.

"Your hair..." he begins, and Josuke bites back a groan.

 _Please, not here,_ he thinks. _Not now. Don't you dare say anything about my-_

"You're Joseph's kid, right?" the stranger finishes, causing Josuke's eyes to widen in surprise. "Caesar said I should look for the kid with the pompadour, but I didn't really believe him. Old man must've pulled some strings to have us seated together."

Recognition flashes in Josuke's eyes as he comes to understand the situation, and he nods.

"Yeah, I'm Josuke Higashikata," he says, putting a hand out for a handshake. "You must be Uncle Caesar's kid."

The other young man accepts the handshake, but an odd look comes across his face. "Yep, I'm Trevor. Nice to meet you Josuke."

Trevor glances to the side with a nervous expression, before looking back to Josuke. "Uh... 'Uncle' Caesar?"

Josuke rolls his eyes. "Eh, it's what pops told me to call him when he came to Morioh last year. He gave me a big spiel about it. It was strange, but I just went along with it."

It really had been strange. Josuke had only just met his father at the time, and he was immediately being thrust at other "family members" as well. Even if Caesar was more of an "honorary" uncle and was just his father's friend, it had been a bit overwhelming.

Trevor gives a chuckle. "Fair. I guess that sounds like something he'd do. Caesar told me a lot about you when he came back from that trip. I bet he had us seated together to make sure we'd meet each other."

Josuke raises an eyebrow at his new acquaintance. "You call him by his first name?" he asks. "Your dad, I mean. Not a lot of people do that."

Trevor brings a hand towards his mouth reflexively. "Oh! Uh, well... he's uh... he's actually my-"

 _"ATTENTION STUDENTS!"_

The voice booms over the entire auditorium, silencing the chatter and hurting Josuke's ears a bit. Next to him, Trevor draws a sharp breath in surprise, and Josuke notices a few yellow sparks dancing across his skin when he does so.

"Good!" The voice bellows again, somewhat less loud this time. Josuke turns his gaze to the center stage, where the pro hero Present Mic stands as he addresses the crowd.

"Now that I have your attention," Present Mic continues, "please grab your pencils and get ready for the Written Exam!"

=====Josuke=====

An hour later, a loud bell rings, signaling the end of the written portion. Josuke idly wonders why they even needed a bell, when Present Mic could've just yelled at them again.

"Excellent!" Present Mic exclaims from below, as if reading his mind. "Just leave your tests right there on your desks. The proctors will come pick them up when you leave. _Now,_ it's time for me to explain the rules of the second half of the exam: the Practical Exam!"

The whole auditorium listens with rapt attention as Present Mic explains the Practical Exam. Nobody but the pro hero below dares say a word, lest they miss out on some important details, but Josuke catches someone a few rows below him mumbling something. Probably just thinking aloud, if anything. It helped some people retain information, or so he'd heard. Josuke's remembers catching Koichi doing the same thing once or twice.

Except, some guy in the front row had begun chastising both the poor kid _and_ Present Mic himself, somehow. Josuke tries and fails to hold back a derisive snort; how could someone be so pretentious? He'd make a point to go find the poor mumbler and give him some words of encouragement when they were getting ready to start.

Present Mic finishes the explanation, and just like that the applicants were hurried to a series of busses that would take them to their testing sites. Josuke and Trevor make it onto a bus and sit down, waiting to get things started.

"Hey, you saw that one kid right?" Josuke asks idly. "The one who was muttering. He got scolded by that guy in the front."

"Hmm?" Trevor hums in response. "Uh, yeah, I think so. Green hair, right? What about him?"

"Help me pick him out when we get to the site, alright?" Josuke replies. "He seems kind of nervous, and that dick with the glasses probably didn't make him feel any better."

Trevor puts a hand over his mouth as he chuckles. "Hah! I didn't guess you'd be such a bleeding-heart, Josuke," he quips. "But sure, I'll keep an eye out."

" _Tch_ , it's not that," Josuke hastily denies. "He just reminds me of a friend of mine, is all."

Trevor rolls his eyes, grinning slightly. "Uh huh."

Josuke crosses his arms in annoyance, and in a few moments the bus rumbles to life and begins moving. Trevor eventually nudges him to get his attention, and as Josuke turns to him he gets in close.

"So what's the game plan?" he asks in a whisper. "We're at a unique advantage, since we kind of halfway know each other, which is something the test setup was trying to actively avoid."

Josuke thinks about it for a moment, then shakes his head. "Right, the test proctors are trying to _avoid_ team-ups. I think it would be frowned upon if we were to obviously work together. Besides, the test's point system dissuades it too, since only one person can get points for taking down a robot even if two people work together to do it. If anything, it incentivizes 'kill stealing' and working against other competitors."

Trevor audibly sighs, but gives a reluctant nod. "Yeah yeah, I guess so. In that case, we shouldn't linger near each other if we both want to pass. We'll end up stealing each others' kills without meaning to if we do. When the test starts, let's split up as soon as we can."

This time, Josuke nods in agreement. "Agreed. I'd like both of us to pass, so let's avoid getting each others' way." He gives a reassuring grin and a thumbs up. "Good luck."

Trevor leans back into his seat, looking at Josuke from the corner of his eye with a thoughtful expression. "Yeah, thanks. You too."

=====Okuyasu=====

Standing outside the gates of "Testing Grounds A", Okuyasu taps his foot impatiently as he waits for the starting signal. The others in his group seemed to be milling about and chatting amicably, but Okuyasu was just getting more and more antsy. He'd been itching to bring out The Hand and do some damage all day, but now that the time had come all they were doing was waiting around.

" _Aaargh_ , when the hell are we gonna get started?" he grumbles to himself, banging his fist a bit on the hood of the parked bus as he waits impatiently.

"Right?" a voice next to him agrees with an aggravated tone, and Okuyasu turns to see a youth with silver hair and wild-looking eyelashes. "I feel like we've been standing here for ages! Lemme get in there and hit something!"

Okuyasu, surprised and relieved someone else shares his sentiment, nods in agreement. "Yeah, I'm really gettin' anxious just waiting. The written test got me all stressed out; I need to relieve some tension!"

His new acquaintance gives him a look of sympathy. "You too? Hell, I thought it was just me. Sitting still for so long, it really gets me wound up. I'm uh... not a very good test taker."

"Me neither!" Okuyasu agrees, giving a hearty laugh. "But busting up some robots, that's the kind of activity I can get behind."

The crazy eyelashes guy grins in agreement, displaying a row of sharp teeth, and seems like he's about to respond when a loud chime echoes across the area. With a dull grinding noise, the gates begin to swing open.

 _"YOU MAY NOW BEGIN THE PRACTICAL EXAM!"_

=====Koichi=====

Koichi dabs his forehead a bit with the sleeve of his shirt as he waits for the Practical Exam to begin. It isn't particularly hot outside, what with it being February, but the stress of the situation threatens to overwhelm him. He was confident in his performance on the Written Exam, but the highest grade imaginable couldn't help him if he failed the Practical.

He looks down at his hands, clenching them into fists as he grimaces. Why was he so nervous? It was just a test, against fake robotic enemies that couldn't kill him. It was nothing like last year, nothing like... like Kira, and yet he still found himself unable to pull himself together.

"Hey!" he hears someone nearby call out, and he looks up from his stress-induced stupor to see a taller guy in a martial arts gi trot over towards him. As the young man gets closer, Koichi notes to his surprise that the boy has a long, muscled tail.

"You look pretty clammy," the martial artist remarks, concern clear on his face. "Are you dehydrated? I'm sure one of the proctors can get you some water before we start, if you need it."

"De... dehydrated?" Koichi parrots, confused. "Uh, no. I'm just... nervous, I guess. I've never done anything like this before."

Well, he'd done things that were _much worse_ than this if he was honest with himself, but he'd already told himself that a million times and it wasn't helping.

The martial artist just nods, giving a warm smile. "I imagine most people here haven't used their Quirks in a combat setting either, if that's what you mean. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine. The robots won't seriously hurt anyone, and if things get bad UA has some top notch medical staff on the scene to help out."

He gives Koichi a thoughtful look for a moment, then continues. "Besides, there's something about you that makes me think you'll be okay. You've got this... I don't know, it's hard to describe. There's a fighting spirit in your eyes; that's the only way I can describe it."

Koichi feels confused at the young man's observation. He sure didn't feel a whole lot of "fighting spirit" right now. The boy seemed sincere in what he'd said, but Koichi just wasn't sure. He opens his mouth to respond when a loud bell sounds out, and the gates begin to open.

 _"YOU MAY NOW BEGIN THE PRACTICAL EXAM!"_

=====Yukako=====

"Hmm, I see," Yukako says with a nod. "Do you shampoo or condition it at all? Or does it not need to be treated that way?"

"I just clean it with water, actually," Ibara replies, fiddling with a strand of her vine-like hair as she explains it to Yukako. "It doesn't have a lot of the problems that normal hair does, and it doesn't react well to soaps and other cleaning products. Rinsing it with water every morning and evening keeps it fresh and clean."

Yukako nods once again, completely engrossed in the conversation. "Yes, that makes sense. That's very interesting. It's not exactly the same, but I've never met another person with an ability so similar to mine, so I just had to ask."

Ibara covers her mouth and giggles lightly. "Oh, of course. Think nothing of it. If you want we could exchange tips. I'm sure we've both come up with ideas for using our Quirks in ways the other hasn't thought of."

Yukako thinks better of correcting Ibara about her Stand. She is about to continue, but pauses as she catches sight of a familiar blond boy and scowls.

"Ugh, I was hoping not to be placed in the same examination site as him," she says with a disgusted tone, and Ibara turns to where Yukako is looking to spot the boy in question.

"Him?" she asks. "Why, do you know him?"

"Thankfully not," Yukako scoffs. "He manhandled two of my friends when we first arrived at the campus, completely unprovoked. Can you believe such a rude person wants to be a hero?"

Ibara nods. "It's certainly quite unbecoming, I must agree. Perhaps he is simply having a bad day, though? The stress of the exam could be taxing his nerves."

Yukako huffs again. "If that's the case, it still doesn't excuse him taking out his stress on other-"

She is interrupted by a loud chime, and the groan of the gates into the testing site swinging open.

 _"YOU MAY NOW BEGIN THE PRACTICAL EXAM!"_

=====Josuke=====

"You see him yet?" Josuke asks, scanning the crowd around the gate to try and spot the green-haired boy.

"Nope, not... oh wait," Trevor replies, raising a hand to point into the crowd. "Yep, that's him right there. Wouldn't you know it, Glasses Dick is harassing him again."

Josuke follows where Trevor's hand points and sure enough, the poor kid is being scolded by "Glasses Dick" yet again. He immediately stomps over towards them, not bothering to see if Trevor follows as he approaches the two of them.

"...you perhaps planning on distracting her to ruin her chances?" he hears Glasses Dick accuse in a scolding manner as he approaches. The green-haired boy begins letting out a barely intelligible string of denials and weak defenses. As Glasses Dick opens his mouth to speak again, Josuke finally chimes in.

"And what about you, huh?" he asks, his tone laced with annoyance and disdain. "What are your intentions, harassing a kid who's clearly already stressed out about this exam?"

Glasses Dick turns on a dime to face him, looking both surprised and offended. "Are you accusing me of foul play? I am simply trying to keep things fair, and I suspect this young man of trying to gain an unfair advantage against another contender."

"That's a load of bull," Josuke fires back, crossing his arms and putting on his meanest scowl possible. "This is the second time you've singled this kid out without a real reason. What, did he look like an easy target to you? Someone you could stress out to the point of making them a non-threat? That's downright unforgivable, if you ask me."

Glasses Dick sputters, seeming both shocked and outraged at the accusations. He seems to be trying to form a coherent retort, but the poor kid he'd been pestering works up the courage to step between him and Josuke.

"H-h-hey now, you guys really shouldn't be arguing over me," he offers meekly, and Josuke doesn't know whether he should appreciate the concern or be disappointed at how little this guy seems to think of himself. "Really, it's more important for us all to get ready for the-"

A loud bell chime interrupts the kid, and Josuke looks up just in time to see the gates swinging open.

 _"YOU MAY NOW BEGIN THE PRACTICAL EXAM!"_

He hears the sound of deep breathing, and before Josuke can even react to the announcement Trevor is already sprinting past him, body wreathed in yellow sparks. All around him, the rest of the crowd begins surging towards the gates as well.

The exam has begun, and Josuke groans at the realization that he's already off to a crappy start.

* * *

 **More Author's Notes:** For now, Josuke is our main "perspective character". Not the only one, as you can see, but our main one. I want to shift to Izuku and Josuke having about equal share of the perspective later on, with a few scenes from the perspectives of other characters here and there like we see here, but for the first few chapters we'll probably be mostly sticking with Josuke and the Part 4 crew. We've already seen these events through Izuku's perspective after all, and not enough has deviated from BNHA canon yet to warrant getting his thoughts on the situation. Don't worry, it's my intent for Izuku to be one of the main protagonists in this still, he just has to share with Josuke now.

I was hesitant on introducing Trevor so early. There are a grand total of 4 major original characters in the story, three of whom you've heard about in the prologue but haven't met, and one of whom is Trevor. All 4 will have varying degrees of importance, but if things go as I'm currently planning Trevor is going to be the most important. Not quite "main protagonist" important, because I don't have the guts to put an original character at that level of focus, but up there. When I came up with the idea for this story I wanted a character that uses Hamon, and I wanted a character that could kind of "straddle the line" between the worlds of JJBA and BNHA. When I decided that people with Quirks couldn't have Stands, my only option was to combine the "Character with Hamon" and "Character with traits from both series" together. Next chapter I'll probably start doing stat cards for new Stands and Quirks at the end of chapters they appear in, so you'll get some background on Trevor's Quirk then.

Thanks for reading.


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